2010-11 Chicago Bears: The Last Time You'll See Utler Alive

[R-V]

Some interesting statqueen stuff here:

http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/07/no-lebron-but-bears-camp-just-3-weeks-away.html

Where did the Bears stack up in 2009? They were 28th on offense with a minus-16.8 percent DVOA and 22nd on defense with a 7.1 percent DVOA. But special teams did quite well, coming in third at 4.1 percent. Pretty much everywhere you look, the numbers are disappointing, like the season was. The Bears were 31st on offense in the red zone but even worse on defense in the red zone, ranking 32nd with a DVOA of 54.2 percent. That means they allowed 54.2 percent more yards on plays in the red zone.

[BH]

Bear football. W00t.

"Beat writer Brad Biggs suggests the Bears scrapped Mike Martz's plans to move Devin Hester to the slot because he's being paid like a playmaker and No. 1 receiver.
It's a sensible explanation. Hester would seem to fit better in the "Az Hakim" role with Johnny Knox and Devin Aromashodu on the outside, but the Bears want to justify the four-year, $41 million contract handed out two summers ago. Once the games start to count, don't be surprised to see Hester spending the majority of his time in the slot.
Source: Chicago Tribune
Related: Devin Aromashodu, Johnny Knox"

rotoworld

[Internet Apex]

Bear football. W00t.

"Beat writer Brad Biggs suggests the Bears scrapped Mike Martz's plans to move Devin Hester to the slot because he's being paid like a playmaker and No. 1 receiver.
It's a sensible explanation. Hester would seem to fit better in the "Az Hakim" role with Johnny Knox and Devin Aromashodu on the outside, but the Bears want to justify the four-year, $41 million contract handed out two summers ago. Once the games start to count, don't be surprised to see Hester spending the majority of his time in the slot.
Source: Chicago Tribune
Related: Devin Aromashodu, Johnny Knox"

rotoworld

Here's the actual story and the part about Hester.

" Well, it looks like the Bears will have several options, and the thinking has to be at least a few will work. Hester likely would have reached 70 receptions last season if he had remained healthy. Interestingly, Martz compared him to former slot receiver Az-Zahir Hakim when he was first hired, a role player he used in St. Louis. Quickly, Hester was being talked about again as a starter and an outside deep threat. It remains to be seen if he can be above average in that role. He's certainly been miscast before as a No. 1-type receiver through no fault of his own."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/chi-100715-chicago-bears-wide-receivers,0,5854772.story

[PenPho]

Separately, the Bears took a flyer (flier? I always get this confused) in the supplemental draft on the dude from BYU that's been trying out for pretty much every team in the league.

Harvey Unga, there's been a lot of talk about him in the interwebs lately because he's a big back (6'0, 240).

1000 yards in each of the last 3 seasons at BYU.

[Saul Goodman]

Separately, the Bears took a flyer (flier? I always get this confused) in the supplemental draft on the dude from BYU that's been trying out for pretty much every team in the league.

Harvey Unga, there's been a lot of talk about him in the interwebs lately because he's a big back (6'0, 240).

1000 yards in each of the last 3 seasons at BYU.

It's flyer.

[Chuck to Chuck]

[J. Walter Weatherman]

Uhh...

what?

[fiveouts]

After reading the Tribune's articles on the defense lately, maybe I'm being very Polyellon about this.


The Bears were ranked 17th in total defense last year.  They added Julius Peppers and Chris Harris, and are essentially adding Brian Urlacher (who missed the enitre season).  Why do so many people think they're going to be worse than last year?   

[Brownie]

After reading the Tribune's articles on the defense lately, maybe I'm being very Polyellon about this.


The Bears were ranked 17th in total defense last year.  They added Julius Peppers and Chris Harris, and are essentially adding Brian Urlacher (who missed the enitre season).  Why do so many people think they're going to be worse than last year?   

I'm not dismissing your point, which is valid, but just the bolded part took me back to 2005 when Dusty and Hendry kept insisting getting Wood and Prior back along with Corey Patterson from the minors would be akin to a big trade. Ooooh, and they got Matt Lawton that year!!

I think people question whether the secondary will hold up. The addition of Harris will certainly help. You add Peppers, but Ogunleye and Alex Brown are gone, so is that a wash? Also, remember that besides Urlacher coming back you have Piso Tinoasamoa as well.

[Internet Apex]

After reading the Tribune's articles on the defense lately, maybe I'm being very Polyellon about this.


The Bears were ranked 17th in total defense last year.  They added Julius Peppers and Chris Harris, and are essentially adding Brian Urlacher (who missed the enitre season).  Why do so many people think they're going to be worse than last year?  

I'm not dismissing your point, which is valid, but just the bolded part took me back to 2005 when Dusty and Hendry kept insisting getting Wood and Prior back along with Corey Patterson from the minors would be akin to a big trade. Ooooh, and they got Matt Lawton that year!!

I think people question whether the secondary will hold up. The addition of Harris will certainly help. You add Peppers, but Ogunleye and Alex Brown are gone, so is that a wash? Also, remember that besides Urlacher coming back you have Piso Tinoasamoa as well.

Wha? Maybe if you literally replaced Brown with nobody and played with three down linemen and 10 guys total. Pepper is All-Pro so he's an upgrade over either of those two. Period. The question then is how much better and is Israel Idonije a total piece of crap? I don't think he is. I think he's underrated as dick. The big fucking question here is how healthy will Tommie Harris be? Not how interested or how crazy or how well-liked by his baby momma etc... Fuck that. How healthy? Nobody knows. But if he's about as good as he was the last two games last year, I'll take it and the defense will have a fighting chance most weeks. If he's anywhere NEAR his 05-06 self, there's gonna be fucking murders.

[Slaky]

After reading the Tribune's articles on the defense lately, maybe I'm being very Polyellon about this.


The Bears were ranked 17th in total defense last year.  They added Julius Peppers and Chris Harris, and are essentially adding Brian Urlacher (who missed the enitre season).  Why do so many people think they're going to be worse than last year?  

I'm not dismissing your point, which is valid, but just the bolded part took me back to 2005 when Dusty and Hendry kept insisting getting Wood and Prior back along with Corey Patterson from the minors would be akin to a big trade. Ooooh, and they got Matt Lawton that year!!

I think people question whether the secondary will hold up. The addition of Harris will certainly help. You add Peppers, but Ogunleye and Alex Brown are gone, so is that a wash? Also, remember that besides Urlacher coming back you have Piso Tinoasamoa as well.

Wha? Maybe if you literally replaced Brown with nobody and played with three down linemen and 10 guys total. Pepper is All-Pro so he's an upgrade over either of those two. Period. The question then is how much better and is Israel Idonije a total piece of crap? I don't think he is. I think he's underrated as dick. The big fucking question here is how healthy will Tommie Harris be? Not how interested or how crazy or how well-liked by his baby momma etc... Fuck that. How healthy? Nobody knows. But if he's about as good as he was the last two games last year, I'll take it and the defense will have a fighting chance most weeks. If he's anywhere NEAR his 05-06 self, there's gonna be fucking murders.

I love Izzy Idonije. I think he's going into beast mode this year.

[fiveouts]

So even if Izzy Idonije sucks, Tommie Harris' knee pops like a girls high school basketball player, and their secondary shits the bed, aren't they at worst like 14th-15th in total defense?  Essentially if all those three things happen, they're pretty much the same defense as last year.

[Internet Apex]

So even if Izzy Idonije sucks, Tommie Harris' knee pops like a girls high school basketball player, and their secondary shits the bed, aren't they at worst like 14th-15th in total defense?  Essentially if all those three things happen, they're pretty much the same defense as last year.

If all those things happen, I'll sell Night Man and his brother my Eagles tickets.

[Saul Goodman]

So even if Izzy Idonije sucks, Tommie Harris' knee pops like a girls high school basketball player, and their secondary shits the bed, aren't they at worst like 14th-15th in total defense?  Essentially if all those three things happen, they're pretty much the same defense as last year.

If all those things happen, I'll sell Night Man and his brother my Eagles tickets.

Trying to make me root for that is lower than low.

[CT III]

So even if Izzy Idonije sucks, Tommie Harris' knee pops like a girls high school basketball player, and their secondary shits the bed, aren't they at worst like 14th-15th in total defense?  Essentially if all those three things happen, they're pretty much the same defense as last year.

If all those things happen, I'll sell Night Man and his brother my Eagles tickets.

Trying to make me root for that is lower than low.

Especially since he's talking about the band.